Panguna...interesting place. In the 70s they found copper, and opened up the largest copper mine in the world. Francis Ona was displeased that they were trashing the island and siphoning all of the proceeds out of the country, he formed a landowner's association to try to rectify things. That didn't work, of course, so he found an old WW2 sword in the jungle and said "fark you all". They sent in the police, but that didn't work. So they sent in the army, but that didn't work either. So then the prime minister hired international mercenaries. But he got in Big Trouble for that stunt. At some point, with the mine shuttered and Francis controlling the entire island, he proclaimed victory and set himself up as king.

Papua New Guinea is in the region where the Indo-Australian Plate collides with the Western Pacific Plate, and essentially in an intersection of the Indo-Australian, Phillippine, and Eurasian Plates. It's ocean crust that's been forced up to 16,000ft above sea level from tectonic forces.

mikemoto:New Guinea has 3 official languages, one of which is...English. http://www.translationdirectory.com/articles/article1648.php

The vast majority of people do not speak English. It's the official language because it is a former British/Australian colony. Tok Pisin is really the language of the land. Motu is official because a lot of people near the Capital speak it.

A moderate (no, subby, a 7.5 can't even see "huge" form where it's standing) earthquake along a ring of fire fault, facing an area that was purposefully kept clear of major population centers for exactly that reason?

Wow, what a rare occurrence worthy of both panic and international news coverage.

Hollie Maea:mikemoto: New Guinea has 3 official languages, one of which is...English. http://www.translationdirectory.com/articles/article1648.php

The vast majority of people do not speak English. It's the official language because it is a former British/Australian colony. Tok Pisin is really the language of the land. Motu is official because a lot of people near the Capital speak it.

northguineahills:Hollie Maea: mikemoto: New Guinea has 3 official languages, one of which is...English. http://www.translationdirectory.com/articles/article1648.php

The vast majority of people do not speak English. It's the official language because it is a former British/Australian colony. Tok Pisin is really the language of the land. Motu is official because a lot of people near the Capital speak it.

And, that's not including the over 800 tribal languages....

Exactly. English is at best the third language of some (mostly city) people.

Hollie Maea:Panguna...interesting place. In the 70s they found copper, and opened up the largest copper mine in the world. Francis Ona was displeased that they were trashing the island and siphoning all of the proceeds out of the country, he formed a landowner's association to try to rectify things. That didn't work, of course, so he found an old WW2 sword in the jungle and said "fark you all". They sent in the police, but that didn't work. So they sent in the army, but that didn't work either. So then the prime minister hired international mercenaries. But he got in Big Trouble for that stunt. At some point, with the mine shuttered and Francis controlling the entire island, he proclaimed victory and set himself up as king.

make me some tea:Papua New Guinea is in the region where the Indo-Australian Plate collides with the Western Pacific Plate, and essentially in an intersection of the Indo-Australian, Phillippine, and Eurasian Plates. It's ocean crust that's been forced up to 16,000ft above sea level from tectonic forces.

whither_apophis:make me some tea: Papua New Guinea is in the region where the Indo-Australian Plate collides with the Western Pacific Plate, and essentially in an intersection of the Indo-Australian, Phillippine, and Eurasian Plates. It's ocean crust that's been forced up to 16,000ft above sea level from tectonic forces.